Geode devs- I am not sure how decisions are made when changing Geode's API, but I would caution that more care should be taken when doing so, regardless of whether the APIs are public or not, but especially when they are public.
Unfortunately, in this particular case, the API in question is deemed "internal", which I know, are subject to change. However, the problem with this is, the public API is insufficient in some cases, particularly for "frameworks" (e.g. SDG) and "tooling" building on Geode and attempting to uphold Geode's functional/behavioral contract. By way of example, a recent *Spring Data Geode* build broke <https://build.spring.io/browse/SGF-NAG-556/log> [1] because, the org.apache.geode.internal.InternalDataSerializer class was recently changed. The scope of getSerializer(:Class):DataSerializer was changed from *public <https://github.com/apache/geode/blob/rel/v1.1.1/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/InternalDataSerializer.java#L1113>* [2] to *private <https://github.com/apache/geode/blob/a44585316a8d7eed35917c1dfd829315b34ce316/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/InternalDataSerializer.java#L1090>* [3] in a seemingly unrelated commit. There is a class <https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-data-geode/blob/master/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/serialization/EnumSerializer.java#L39> [4] in SDG that extends DataSerializer <http://gemfire-90-javadocs.docs.pivotal.io/org/apache/geode/DataSerializer.html> [5] (in Geode's public API) but must use the InternalDataSerializer (internal Geode API) when changes (e.g. "supported classes") to the SDG serializer need to be "distributed" across the cluster. SDG"s serializer use to call this getSerializer(:Class):DataSerializer method. However, in this case, I fixed the problem by not calling this "overloaded" method as it was not strictly necessary. While I am trying to avoid the use of "internal" Geode classes and APIs in SDG in general, as I mention above, this is not always possible. For instance, there are a few API blunders such as the ability to register <http://gemfire-90-javadocs.docs.pivotal.io/org/apache/geode/DataSerializer.html#register-java.lang.Class-> [6] a DataSerializer class but not "unregister" it; that is in <https://github.com/apache/geode/blob/rel/v1.1.1/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/InternalDataSerializer.java#L1077> [7] InternalDataSerializer. The other bad API practices on this class (i.e. (Internal)DataSerializer) alone. Framework and tool developers must occasionally rely on "internal" APIs (especially when the public API is insufficient) to order to achieve a similar experience to Geode alone; something to keep in mind as Geode's ecosystem grows. Finally, I'll also add that, I do need to know anytime the public API changes as well. Recently the getOnlineLocators() method <https://github.com/apache/geode/blob/61f676b0187e8918ca62f4a2ec9b6bd3baa942d3/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/cache/client/Pool.java#L210> [8] was added to org.apache.geode.cache.client.Pool, which caused another SDG build <https://build.spring.io/browse/SGF-NAG-552> [9] to fail. Special thank you to *Nabarun* and *Diane* for the recent heads about the LuceneQueryFactory method name change... from setResultLimit(:int) to setLimit(:int). Regards, -- -John [1] https://build.spring.io/browse/SGF-NAG-556/log [2] https://github.com/apache/geode/blob/rel/v1.1.1/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/InternalDataSerializer.java#L1113 [3] https://github.com/apache/geode/blob/a44585316a8d7eed35917c1dfd829315b34ce316/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/InternalDataSerializer.java#L1090 [4] https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-data-geode/blob/master/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/serialization/EnumSerializer.java#L39 [5] http://gemfire-90-javadocs.docs.pivotal.io/org/apache/geode/DataSerializer.html [6] http://gemfire-90-javadocs.docs.pivotal.io/org/apache/geode/DataSerializer.html#register-java.lang.Class- [7] https://github.com/apache/geode/blob/rel/v1.1.1/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/InternalDataSerializer.java#L1077 [8] https://github.com/apache/geode/blob/61f676b0187e8918ca62f4a2ec9b6bd3baa942d3/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/cache/client/Pool.java#L210 [9] https://build.spring.io/browse/SGF-NAG-552
